The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to the field of situational awareness displays. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein relate to assisting an aircraft control system or aircraft operator to determine a future path of the aircraft using a previous path and approach volume.
A Vertical Situation Display (“VSD”) does an excellent job of providing awareness of an aircraft's present position and height relative to an external object or hazard, such as a runway surface and approaching terrain. However, to maintain awareness of the aircraft's movement with respect to an external object or hazard requires continuous monitoring of a VSD since a VSD, like a typical display system, displays the position of the aircraft at only one point in time. For example, it is difficult for aircraft operators to quickly visualize the movement of the aircraft relative to a runway surface by simply viewing a VSD displaying an approach of the aircraft. As such, aircraft operators are often unsure whether their aircraft is coming in too steep or too flat, or too fast or too slow when landing, or whether they are going to safely clear other terrain while inflight.